


When Life Throws You A Curveball

by shadowglove88



Series: Alt!Dorian Trilogy [2]
Category: Smallville, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-07-04 01:43:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15831177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowglove88/pseuds/shadowglove88
Summary: Alternate Sequel to One Night Stand.When Dean travels through Smallville the last thing he expected to find was "Lola" (whose real name is apparently Chloe) appearing in the bar he was frequenting - or discover the fact that their one night stand has resulted in a son: Dorian. Being a father wasn't what he wanted, but it might be what he needed.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For (1) bogusbabe, who first asked for it, and for (2) malugargula, who never gave up on wanting to see a Chlean alternate to the Dorian Trilogy.

"Who is the handsomest boy in the world?" Eighteen year old Chloe Sullivan smiled up at her son, who would soon be celebrating his first year of life. Having a child so young, and not even knowing who the father was, had changed her world and had admittedly made things more difficult (struggling to keep up at school, at the Torch, as  _well_  as raise her son had been stressful) but she'd adapted and couldn't imagine life without her child anymore. He was a little gift that made her feel love in a way she'd never before. She knew that her father had always loved her, but there's been a part of her that'd felt it was missing something, that she was unlovable, after her mother had abandoned her so easily those two times. Now though, with the unconditional love in her son's eyes, she knew that she was not only capable of receiving such adoring love, but of imparting it as well. She'd never loved anyone the way she loved her son, and she lived every day with the desire to make things easier and better for him.

Now she was going to graduate from high school in a couple of months and had been told in confidence that she'd be valedictorian. She'd been accepted to every single college and university she'd applied to, even Stanford, but she'd decided to merely go to MetU. It was closer to home, and that way she could still live with her father and commute. It would make things easier for Dorian, and she wouldn't be uprooting the young tyke from all his friends and family who loved and took care of him.

She smiled as she gazed at Dorian, who was a shoe-in for the man who'd fathered him. He had the same sandy-blonde hair, the same light freckles, the same mischievous smile and laugh. He was going to be every bit as handsome as his father had been as well. Around his neck he wore the pendant that his father had left for Chloe after the one night stand they'd shared, but she'd changed out the chain so that this one would fit him. It was all she had of his father to give him, other than the fake name he'd given her that night (Dorian Gray) and while she wished she could give Dorian more information than that, she knew that there were many kids out there who knew less about their fathers and who grew up without any problems. All she had to do was shower him with all the love in her heart and let him know that to her he was the most important person in the world, and that he always  _would_  be.

"Chloe, I just got a call from Mr Gaines." Clark emerged form the kitchen, a sandwich in his hand. "He said your dad's there and causing a ruckus."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "Not again." She didn't know what was wrong, but her father had started drinking more and more this last year, and he spent most of his time at the bar that Mr Gaines owned. This wouldn't be the first time that she was called to bring him home.

"Come on, I'll go with you and help you with him." Clark gave her a brave smile.

"Thanks, Clark." She pressed a kiss to Dorian's chubby cheek. "Come on, handsome prince, we're going to go get your grandpa before he gets thrown into the dungeons for being naughty."

Clark sighed and tried to keep cheerful but Chloe could see the worry on his face as he led them towards his truck. She understood that worry too because she felt it. Clark had gotten a scholarship thanks to his amazing football skills. He'd be going to university in Florida. Even with his "skills" she couldn't expect him to superspeed to Smallville every time she needed help. No. He'd be studying  _and_  training. He'd be starting his new life. She couldn't impose her problems on that. But the thought of having to deal with these drunken calls and other such stuff on her own made her unable to sleep with worry. How exactly was she going to do this without her best friend?

"Here, let me hold him." Clark reached for Dorian and held him in his arms as Chloe grabbed the keys. "Who is gonna go for a ride with us to pick up grampa!"

"Daddy!" Dorian yelled out the word that made Chloe wince. She wasn't even sure who had taught him that word.

"Nope, just Uncle Clark." Clark grinned down at the happy child. "Can you say Uncle Clark?"

"Daddy!" Dorian cooed.

Clark chuckled and shook his head. "We'll need to continue working on that."

Chloe watched her best friend with her son and realized that the baby needed some sort of stable male in his life. So far that role had always been fulfilled by Clark, but now that he was going she needed to think ahead. Her father wasn't stable, and Lex stayed far away, mostly because despite the both of them swearing to the contrary, everyone in town was sure he was the father. So considering they were out of the question, and so was Pete now that he'd moved to Wichita, who exactly was there?

The question continued to float around in her mind as she strapped Dorian into the baby-seat Clark had bought for his truck since he was always with Chloe and the baby. As they drove towards the Cantina Chloe admittedly didn't hear half of what her best friend was telling her, although she got enough of it to know that Lois had promised to show him "all the places that matter" in Florida. Her cousin, and Dorian's godmother, was studying journalism in a college not an hour away from where Clark would be going and had promised Chloe to take good care of the "bumbling farmboy". Chloe was glad that Clark and Lois would be able to take care of each other, and keep themselves from being bored, but as they grew closer and closer to the Cantina, her own reality began to hit her and made her worry even more.

* * *

Dean Winchester tried his father's phone number once more but just like every single try for the last two weeks, he went straight to voicemail. The man was beginning to get nervous. Sure, his father disappeared every-so-often, but usually there was a quick message before it happened. Usually John gave a heads-up, and the times when he didn't he never stayed as incommunicado as long as he had right now. John Winchester usually could take better care of himself than anyone Dean knew, and the young man wasn't usually one to worry about his father, but damn it, he was getting close to it right now.

" _I failed her!_ " The loud drunk wailed. " _My baby, my precious daughter, and I failed her. And now she won't have the education she deserves, or the life she should've lived_!"

"That's  _enough_  Gabe." The bartender looked annoyed. "Your daughter's quite happy with her life as it is. You need to get over it."

The guy had been entertainment enough for Dean and the rest of the patrons at the Cantina. He wailed about his daughter, about how he failed her just like he'd failed his wife, and that he was no good. It was pathetic, really.

Enough with the loser. Dean was tense and needed some help getting rid of stress. His gaze travelled on the women in the Cantina, and while they were all good looking none of them really did it for him. He thought about the last time he'd had a truly satisfying fuck, one in which he'd picked up in his usual way, and of course Lola came to mind. She'd been different from the other girls, he'd been able to tell it, it was what had drawn him to her in the first place. Not only had she been beautiful, but she hadn't seemed to realize it, and she'd been smart to boot. And then he'd been with her, in her, and it'd been unlike anything he'd had before. It was why he'd done something he'd never done before and had left the gift Sammy had given him as a kid. He'd also left his number for Lola to call him again, he'd been sure that she'd felt the connection as well, but she'd never called.

It'd made him see just how silly he'd been about connections for crying out loud. What was he? Sammy?

Still, he hadn't quite been able to get the sassy blonde from his mind and had even gone back to that dive a couple of times (telling himself that he wasn't doing it because he wanted to see if she was around) and yet the girl had been no where in sight and the bartender had had no idea whom he was talking about either.

He found himself sometimes looking for the blonde in the bars he frequented, and it took him a lot time to admit that he was doing just that, or that the girls he picked up were blonder than usual.

"Thank fuck." The bartender motioned to someone. "Come and get him. I can't take any more of it."

Apparently the daughter had arrived.

Ready for the second half of his entertainment, Dean turned in his seat and raised his beer to his mouth as he watched the daughter of the pathetic loser go towards him in the crowd. She looked vaguely familiar, and once she broke through the crowd and made her way towards father Dean's beer slipped from his hand as he realized that she was Lola. She moved towards the man and shook her head as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come on, papa."

"No, leave me here." He shook his head. "I want to stay here."

"Papa…" The girl sighed. "They don't want you here."

"Well I don't want to leave!" He snapped and yanked away from her, causing her to stumble backwards.

Dean stood.

"Mr Sullivan." A mountain of a guy with a baby-face stormed into the place, a young baby in his arms. "It's time we go home."

"Clark." The man lowered his head in shame.

"Come on, Mr Sullivan, Chloe and the baby need to sleep." Clark raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to keep them from having their sleep, do you?"

Mr Sullivan shook his head, completely meek. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay papa." Lola, or, err, Chloe, gave him a tired smile.

The man tried to stand but collapsed to the floor. No one smiled or snickered at his pathetic display like bar patrons usually would when someone so incredibly drunk blundered around. From the faces in the bar everyone was used to this display and pitied the girl.

Clark passed Chloe the baby and went to help the man off the floor.

That was when Dean got a good look at the child and he faltered. That baby boy had sandy-blonde hair, the lightest sprinkling of freckles on his face, and he wore Dean's pendant around his neck. The hunter took a step back as he stared at the kid and desperately tried to figure out how old he could be… how long ago had it been since he'd been with the blonde? Something sunk in his stomach as he did the math, and while he knew that it couldn't be a hundred per cent accurate, my god but it was close enough.

That kid, that kid could be his… probably  _was_  his. Why else was he wearing the necklace that Dean had given "Lola"?

Chloe pressed a kiss to the baby's cheek and thanked the bartender for calling them while Clark helped her drunk-ass father up and began to lead him out of the bar.

"No problem Chlo." The bartender rubbed the counter down. "Justin's got that piece ready for the Torch by the way, he'll get it to you first thing tomorrow."

"Thanks Mr Gaines." She sent him a grateful smile and pressed another kiss to the kid's cheek when he made a happy sound.

"Oh! And the Mrs has some things for little Dorian! Says she'll send them through Justin!"

Dean's body went still.

"Tell Mrs Gaines thanks for us!" Chloe lifted the baby's hand to give a little wave. "Say thank you, Dor."

Dorian gurgled.

Chloe grinned and walked out.

Dean put down enough bills to cover his expenses and marched out after them. He waited in the shadows as Chloe, Clark and Mr Sullivan got into a truck and drove away. He followed in the Impala and watched as the truck stopped in front of a two story house. Chloe and the baby got down as she went to unlock the door, and then Clark helped Mr Sullivan inside. A couple of minutes passed and if it wasn't for the fact that the engine was running Dean would assume that the Clark guy lived with them.

Finally Clark emerged from the house with Chloe at his side. They went to the truck and talked a bit before Chloe hugged Clark and sent him on his way. She stayed there and hugged herself as she watched him go, and then she turned and walked back into the house.

Dean slipped out of the Impala and leaned against it as he stared at the house and tried to figure out exactly what he should do.

* * *

Chloe glanced at the clock when she heard the knock on the door. Considering how late it was the only person who could be knocking was Clark. Maybe he'd forgotten something and had come back for it. She'd been about to feed Dorian now that her father was sleeping off his alcohol in his room, and so she kept the baby in her arms as she moved towards the door. "Did you leave your phone again? You really need to keep a better—." Chloe froze as she opened the door to find someone on her doorstep she never would've expected to see in a million years.

Dorian Gray stood there, lit by the light which flickered above him. "Hey."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Dorian?"

"It's Dean, actually." He cleared his throat. " _Chloe_."

"How do you—?"

Dor— _Dean_ ' _s_  gaze went to the baby in her arms. "Is he mine?"

She opened her mouth, and for a crazy minute considered saying no. "Yes. Uh, Dean, meet Dorian."

He let out a deep breath. "Can I come in?"

She nodded and wordlessly moved out of the way, closing the door when he entered.

"How could you not tell me about this? About him?" Dean turned on her the second that they reached the living room. "How could you keep this from me?"

"It wasn't like I had a way of telling you!" Chloe glared at him as she rocked Dorian in her arms. "You only left half of your number."

Dean changed the subject. "Dorian. After all that lecturing you gave me about choosing that name you went and named our son it anyway?"

"Well, I wasn't going to name him  _Bob_ , and I wanted to give him a bit of you."

Dean paused and looked at her oddly. "Well, if you'd called me he could've had more of his father than a fake name and a protective necklace." His anger was in his voice. "Damn it, he and I both deserved better than that!"

She glared at him. "What part of 'you only left me half of your phone number' didn't you get?"

"I pressed the pen so hard into the paper you could see the indentures of the remaining numbers on it!" Dean snapped as he ran his hands through his hair, obviously trying to keep himself calm… or to keep from choking her. "If you'd just softly ran a pencil over the paper you would've seen the rest of the number and then—."

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm not some MacGyver who thinks about those sorts of things!" Chloe barely held her righteous indignation and frustration back. "And I was on the run! A very important man wanted me dead at the time, so sorry if finding you wasn't my first priority when I found out I was pregnant!" The pain from the memories caused tears to come to her eyes. "I was terrified, okay? I was seventeen years old, pregnant for some stranger I was sure I'd never see again, and on top of all of that I was running for my life! I was almost killed while pregnant with Dorian! If it hadn't been for some friends rescuing me…" She hugged their child closer.

Horror tampered down the anger on Dean's face. "I—I didn't know."

"I know," Chloe whispered, all anger gone, the girl now weak and tired. She lowered herself onto the sofa and pressed a kiss to Dorian's forehead. "Were you at the bar? Is that how you found us?"

He nodded as he stood there, all anger gone and now replaced by awkwardness. "Does your father make it a habit to get so piss-drunk that you have to go there with the kid?"

"He's had a hard year," and yet Chloe could hear her own annoyance as she said it.

Dean collapsed on the seat across from them and stared at her before he blinked. "Wait. Did you say you were seventeen when you—?" When she nodded his eyes widened. "You're telling me you're only eighteen?"

"Yeah." She licked her lips.

"So you're still in  _high school_?"

"About to graduate, but yeah."

He ran his hand down his face. "I'm a son of a bitch."

"It wasn't as if you knew." She let out a sigh. "Plus, the age of consent in Kansas is 16. Believe me when I say that I'm not the only teenaged mother in high school. They even have a daycare there so we can keep our children with us during school hours and can go to breast feed or take care of them."

Dean merely stared at her in abject horror.

It made her feel completely overwhelmed and judged. She didn't need this. Not tonight. Not from him. It wasn't as if she'd planned all of this.

Dorian gripped at her shirt and smacked his lips before he gave a little yell.

"He's hungry." Chloe felt a little embarrassed as she slipped him under her shirt enough so he could latch onto a nipple. Her self-consciousness was a little ridiculous considering that this man had suckled at her breasts himself, but still, he was somewhat of a stranger. "I was about to feed him when you came in."

"Does your boyfriend know he's not his?" Dean asked in an odd way, his voice almost choked.

"Boyfriend?" Chloe blinked in confusion.

"Yeah, Mt Rushmore."

Somehow she figured out who he was talking about, and her eyes widened. "Clark's not my boyfriend. He's my best friend."

Dean suddenly stood and moved to the table where all the pictures were. He stared at the frames before he picked up one which had a tired Chloe in a hospital bed, sleepy yet smiling as she held a newly born Dorian. "I should've been there. He's what, nearly a year old? I've missed—" his gaze went to all the pictures with his son "so much in his life." He cleared his throat. "Has he said anything yet?"

She flinched. "He's said Daddy."

Dean turned towards her immediately at the word. "To who?"

"Clark." She saw the hardening in that face. "But that's because Clark is the only one male around him all of the time." She could see the 'that's your fault' in Dean's eyes. "He also says Mommy, Nap, and Vodka."

Dean blinked at the last one. "Vodka?"

Chloe gave a little sigh. "My cousin, his godmother, taught him that one. She's a demon."

Dean got a weird expression on his face and looked about to say something when she yawned. "I, uh, it's late."

Chloe's gaze went to the clock. It was.

"I'm, uh, I got a motel room close to the bar." He ran his hand over his hair. "I was planning on merely spending the night before moving on but, uh, I'd like to stick around for a couple of days and get to know the kid."

Chloe couldn't keep her smile back. She'd worried that if she ever met "Dorian Gray" again that he would be indifferent, or hostile to the thought of having a son, and it warmed her that he'd offered to stick around on his own. "I'd like that."

Dean cleared his throat and nodded. "I'll pick you two up after, uh, school, then?"

"Sure. I'll just make sure to get a ride from Clark in the morning so I don't have to worry about leaving my car."

Dean nodded and then cleared his throat. "I'll, uh, see myself out." And with that he was gone.

Chloe sighed and leaned back against the sofa as she stared ahead of her.


	2. Chapter 2

Watching Dean Winchester with his child was an education. It showed her that he didn't have any sort of contact with children, but that a part of him truly wished he had. It was in his eyes, in the way his expression was a mixture of terror and protective instincts when he stared at the child in thought, and in how he (after much coaching from her) cradled the sleeping child in his arms as if he was the most important thing in the world - one he was afraid to break. It was touching, and she loved the thought that the father of her child felt the same way towards Dorian as she did. This could work out. Dean obviously didn't live close by but she had no doubt that he'd make an effort to come and visit Dorian, to be a part of his life. She'd told her father about Dean's visit that morning at breakfast, the man nursing a hangover, and while Gabe had looked uneasy, he hadn't said anything, most probably due to his shame for how he'd behaved last night, again.

"He went to the  _hospital_?" Dean stared at the picture in horror as they sat on the sofa. He held a sleeping (and softly snoring) Dorian in his arms, and Chloe had a large book of Dorian's pictures rested on her lap, going through each and every picture and telling him the story behind them.

"We were there visiting a friend, Lana. She'd gotten kidnapped again but this time was hurt more than usual." Chloe smiled at the picture of Dorian in the sheets of the hospital cot, spread out as much as his chubby little body would allow.

"Kidnapped  _again_?" Dean looked up at her with a frown.

It occurred to her then that Dean didn't know much about Smallville or the things that went on here. "Remember that I told you that an important man wanted me dead when I met you?" When he nodded she continued. "That's not the only dangers I, or others from here, have gone through. Meteor rocks fell here a long time ago, and they mutated a lot of the population. Most of the residents of Smallville don't even want to acknowledge it, but they are what I used to call Meteor Freaks."

"Meteor Freaks?" Dean's eyes narrowed.

She nodded. "I call them Metahumans now, though. And many of these Metahuman's abilities drive them insane, or make them psychotic. And let's just say that if Lana has an ability, it's to make psychotic meteor freaks fall in love with her and then try to kill her when she won't be with them. She's had at least twenty similar attacks on her. At least. And that's when I stopped counting."

"So this man who wanted you dead—."

"Nope, he was fully human, but he had me investigating… all things meteor. But he got, well, it doesn't matter, he's in jail now, where he belongs." She cleared her throat. "My point was that I investigated the weird, it's what got me into so much trouble when I was a teenager. I've been buried alive by a police deputy, had my body heat almost completely sucked out of me by a school jock, have had a guy who can split himself into two date me and Lana at the same time and then try to kill us by throwing us off of the gorge when we found out—  _many_  things have happened to me here."

"What are you still doing here?" Dean's voice was low, his expression dark. "You should take Dorian and leave! I'll take you wherever you need to go."

"And do what?" She took in a deep breath. "There's something you need to know."

His eyes narrowed. "What?"

"We're metahumans, Dorian and I." She flinched at the horror on his face. "It's what saved both our lives when I was pregnant and one of Lionel's assassin's stabbed me, multiple times." She saw darkness enter those hazel eyes. "As I was dying it triggered my dormant meteor ability and I healed us while Clark fought him off and Lois got me to the closest hospital - where I gave birth to Dorian." She took in a deep breath. "From past experiences, we know that meteor abilities are inherited, especially if the mother is the one infected, so while Dorian hasn't shown any signs of meteor abilities he most probably has one. It's just waiting for a trigger."

Dean stared at her, a million thoughts conflicting behind his eyes, before he gazed down at his son and let out a deep sigh. "My father can never know this."

She frowned and looked up at him. "Why?"

Dean licked his lips. "He—he wouldn't understand that this was something  _done_  to you two. He wouldn't understand the difference between you two and—," he stopped himself. "So you're staying here because his ability might be triggered and since this town is a hotbed of  _metahumans_  it's, in some sense, safer for him because he'll be able to hide it better from the outside world."

"Until he can learn to control it," she agreed. "I know many metahumans who have a handle on their ability, and who haven't degenerated into psychosis. All Dorian needs is to learn how to control whatever he has - and who knows - he might be a healer, like I am." She cleared her throat. "I don't know what his trigger might be - all of ours have been different - but I needed you to know from now in case —."

"In case it gets triggered while I'm around." He nodded, his gaze on his son. "Thank you for telling me."

"Thank you for believing me and not thinking I'm insane," she whispered.

"Believe me, this isn't as out there as you'd think." He sighed and leaned back on the sofa, hard. "Do you think he might be a healer?"

"Considering I'm the one that he would get his ability from, it should be healing or some sort of alternative." She eyed Dean curiously. "Unless there's something from his father?"

He snorted and turned his head towards her. "Sorry, Gorgeous, but I'm just a regular, run of the mill human being. Nothing special about me." He noticed something on the side table and picked them up. "Wait, are you going to Stanford?"

She yanked the acceptance letter form his hand. "No. I've been accepted, and it was one of the places I wanted to go to study journalism, but I have to put Dorian before everything else, so I'm going to study at MetU. It's only an hour's commute from here."

Dean cleared his throat. "I, uh, I have a brother who goes to Stanford."

" _Really_?" Her eyes widened. "What's he studying?"

"Pre Law, I think."

"You  _think_?"

Discomfort tightened his shoulders as he looked away from her. "We don't really talk anymore. He, uh, walked out on the family and the family business and cut all sort of ties with us."

It was obviously a sore and touchy subject, and while her curiosity was killing her, she'd learnt enough tact during the years to know not to press, at least not right now. He'd already opened up more about himself than she'd thought he would, so she'd be patient and let him tell her things as he felt comfortable doing so.

"I'm an only child," she changed the topic before things could get awkward. "It was lonely but I developed a good relationship with my father because of it."

"The same father who makes you and my child drag him away from bars at night?" Dean's voice was dark and unforgiving.

She frowned at him. "You make it sound like he does that all the time."

"No, the guys at the bar make it sound like he does that all the time," Dean corrected. "A bar is no place for a baby."

"I know that," she admitted. "But dad's taken care of me all my life, and I haven't made it easy. It's his time to act out."

"His time to act out?" Dean's eyes narrowed. "He's not a teenager. He has no  _right_  to act out."

"Can we change the subject, please?" A muscle jumped in her cheek.

" _No_." Dean moved closer. "You don't get it. You have  _my son_. You take  _my son_  to unsafe places late at night. All because your father can't get his shit together." He shook his head. "That's going to change."

She raised an eyebrow, annoyed at him, and yet at the same time loving that he was this protective of their son. "I'll make Clark or someone else stay with Dorian while I'll go and—."

"No."

She scoffed. "You can't tell  _me_  what I can't or can do!"

"You only have  _one_  kid, Lola." He still slipped and called her that sometimes. "It's time your father figures that out." A muscle jumped in Dean's cheek.

"Look, I appreciate that you're worried about Dorian, and you have no idea how happy I am that you want to be an active part of his life - every boy should grow up knowing and having a close relationship with his father - but you can't dictate things to me. Especially when you're not going to be here all the time and I'll have to do most of this by myself." She anchored her hands on her hips. "I'm Dor's primary caregiver, and while I know you'll come and visit him often, he's going to grow up with mostly myself and my father. We're going to live our lives how we need to."

Dean stared at her, an odd expression on his face, but he didn't say anything else.

* * *

Dean waited outside of the school parking lot for school to end. He still felt like a son of a bitch knowing that he'd knocked up a high schooler, but he hadn't known she was so young when he'd been with her. And anyway, what was done was done. He wasn't one to stay in the past. This was his present, and it would be his future. Also, she was graduating soon so at least it wouldn't be  _so_ scandalous when his father found out.

He flinched about how that would go down. John Winchester would  _not_  be thrilled to have a grandson.

Flicking through the names in his phone, he paused on Sammy's number and his thumb hovered over the call button before he shook his head and dialed a different number, calling someone else.

"Yeah?" Bobby's gruff voice answered.

Dean cleared his throat as he sat up straight in his seat. "Bobby. Uh, this is Dean. Winchester."

There was a pause, and then Bobby snorted. "I know who this is, idgit." There was reluctant amusement in his tone. "What is going on?"

Dean nodded and licked his lips. "I have a son."

There was a pause, and then Bobby made an odd sound. "I'm not surprised. You're somewhat of a manwhore."

Palming his face, Dean felt embarrassed to hear the guy who'd raised him more than his father had, call him that. "Remember that chick in that dive that I gave the necklace Sammy gave me?"

"Lolita?"

In more ways than one. " _Lola_. Yeah. I found her, and the kid? He's a deadringer for me as a kid." He smiled. "His name's Dorian. That, uh, that was the name I used when I met her." He was ridiculously nervous. "I'm not good at this technology thing, but I took a picture of him…" He sent the text through.

Bobby hung up. He apparently had no idea how to check a text and stay on call. Dean hadn't either, until Chloe had showed him. She was a technology geek, just like Sammy. Which was great, because Dean just got by where technology was concerned.

The phone rang.

Dean answered it quickly. "Hello?"

"Jesus, boy." Bobby sounded surprised. "You said he looked like you - but you didn't say he was basically your baby doppelganger."

For some reason that made Dean extremely proud, and he grinned. "Handsome kid, huh?"

"Was that Lola in the picture you sent?"

Dean shifted in his seat. "Her real name's actually Chloe."

There was a pause, and then: "How old exactly is she?"

Dean flinched. Damn it.

There was a knock on the window, and he jumped and turned to see Chloe smiling, a bag over her shoulder and Dorian propped up on her hip. He grinned brightly to see them. "Go to go Bobby. I'm picking her up. Talk to you later." Hanging up he grinned and leaned over to push the door open. "Hey."

"Hey." Chloe threw the bag in the backseat and got in with Dorian, closing the door behind them. This had become a routine of theirs - Dean picking her up from high school at the end of the day and both of them going to his motel room to spend time together. At the end of the night he'd take her back to her house and only leave after making sure Gabe was home and wouldn't pull a stunt after Dean left.

He was getting used to the routine. He liked the routine. He looked forwards to the routine.

Dorian reached out his hands towards Dean and let out an adorable sound.

Reaching out, Dean picked up his son and pressed a kiss to his forehead before he handed the cooing baby back to his mother. "How was your day?"

"It was good. I have some things I need to get ready for the Torch's next edition." She grinned as she buckled in and pressed kisses to Dorian's chubby cheeks. "Justin just gave me this  _really_  great comic strip and I'm trying to figure out how to fit it in because it's a bit long for the space we have free, but I  _have_  to get it in the next edition."

Dean was about to reverse out when Clark Kent appeared by the window and Chloe rolled it down. He nodded to Dean before he turned to Chloe. "You want me to lend you the babyseat in my truck?"

Dean froze and gazed at his backseat.

"We're fine," Chloe assured him.

"This car isn't baby-proof." Clark looked worried. "No offense, man, but if you get into an accident Dor can be really hurt. I can lend you the one I got while you're here."

"Thanks, Clark." There was something about Chloe's best friend that Dean resented and was threatened by, and it wasn't just the fact that his son called Clark Daddy. "But I was actually going to suggest Chloe and I go to Metropolis and get one ourselves." Chloe's eyes widened. "I want to get some other things for when they're over at my place anyway."

Clark eyed him and then grinned brightly, completely approving. "That's a great idea." He saluted. "You guys have fun." He then noticed Lana and hurried over towards her.

Dean didn't know why exactly Clark apparently approving of him actually  _meant_  something to him. Maybe it was because he could see how happy it made  _Chloe_. "Let's go baby shopping."

Chloe merely transferred that blinding smile on  _him_ , and it was all Dean could do to remember how to drive.

* * *

"You know, baby's have some cool stuff." Dean had installed the baby seat in the back seat of his baby, and that wasn't the only thing he'd gotten. There'd been a set of AC/DC, Metallica, and Queen onesies. He'd known the second he'd seen them that his son needed them. There'd also been a set of three onesies with catchy phrases like "My Dad Can Beat Your Dad Up", "Eat, Poop, Sleep, Repeat", and "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Handsome - Hate Me Because Your Daughter Thinks So". That last one was his favorite.

"They do," Chloe agreed as she rested Dorian down on the traveling crib, as he called it. Chloe assured him that that was not what the thing's proper name was, but for Dean it was a foldable crib that allowed his son to sleep comfortably while in the motel with him.

At the sound of his phone, Dean reached for it and hesitated when he saw his father's number blaring on it. He'd been trying to get in contact with John for weeks now, and that was the only reason why he answered. "Father."

Chloe looked up at that.

"I need you at New Orleans. Got a ghost I need help with. I'll text you the coordinates." He hung up. A second later the coordinates blared on the screen.

Dean stared at the coordinates. A part of him wanted to march out of the doors and head towards New Orleans immediately. His father needed him and this was what Dean had been trained to do. He was trained to follow his father's instructions. But his gaze turned to Dorian and then turned to Chloe. Wordlessly, he texted Caleb with the coordinates, situation, and asked for help. Caleb texted back that he'd help John.

"That was a very short conversation," Chloe remarked casually.

Dean nodded. "My father and I aren't talkers."

She eyed him thoughtfully. "Let's eat before the takeout gets cold."

He watched her as she rose to grab the plastic bags, and a small smile tilted his lips.

This was worth the trouble he was going to be with his father when he realized Dean wasn't on his way.

* * *

Dean entered the bar and looked around. A muscle jumped in his cheek as he moved towards the man crying at the counter. "You've got to get your shit together."

Gabriel Sullivan flinched when he turned and looked at Dean. "We both ruined her life. She'll never have the life she should've had - will never go to Stanford - all because of  _us_."

" _Hey_ ," Dean growled as he slid onto the bar stool next to Chloe's damned father. "She could've gone still. She still has a life. But Chloe has chosen what she wants in life. You need to respect her decisions and stop feeling so damned sorry for her. You don't want to mess her life? Don't make her come here every other night and take care of your damned ass!"

Gabriel flinched and looked away. "I've let her down so many times."

"Then make it up to her and stop making things worse for her. " He ordered a beer and then turned to Gabe. "I'm not going to be around all the time, and I don't want to spend the time I'm gone worrying that your daughter and my son are coming to this place late at night because of you." He hurried on when he saw Gabe open his mouth. "It's not safe out at this time of night. Not only are there drunk drivers, but from what I've heard, there are metahumans who'd be able to do whatever the hell they do better under the cover of night. And if something happens to Chloe or Dorian because you can't grow the fuck up, I'll kill you."

Gabe stared at him in silence before he looked down at the counter.

As Dean drank his can of beer, he hoped the drunkard realized he was being completely serious. If  _anything_  happened to Chloe or Dorian because of Gabe Dean would make sure the man paid, suffered. It was at that moment that Dean realized, beer in hand, that Chloe and Dorian were his family. Sure, John and Sammy were family - but Chloe and Dor were  _Dean's family_.

The realization choked him up and he couldn't get a sip in after that.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe didn't know what Dean had done or said when he'd gone to pick up her father from the bar some nights ago when Mr Gaines called to say he was making a nuisance of himself again, but ever since then her father hadn't gone to the bar. She'd seen him  _trying_  more, around the house, with Dorian and her. He'd even apologized to her and promised that he'd try and do better. Whatever it was that Dean had done - she was extremely grateful for it - for him.

And yet she couldn't stop worrying as she toured the apartment with Dean.

"What do you think?" He asked in a way that was way too casual and proved that he cared more about what she thought than he actually wanted to show. "I mean, it's nothing big, but it's ok. The second bedroom is big enough for a nursery so Dorian can spend some nights with me."

She didn't look at the room, she looked at Dean. He was very tight-lipped about his childhood, his upbringing, and his life. His father and brother were basically strangers that she knew very basic things about. She'd overheard 'conversations' between Dean and his father, which were short barked orders and a swift end of the phone call, or long and drawn-out lashing out because Dean didn't jump and do what John wanted the second John wanted it.

"Oh no."

She blinked and focused on him once more. "What is it?"

"You." Dean's tone was half amused, half scared. "You've got your 'deep thinking' expression. Nothing good ever comes from that expression."

She tried to figure out how best to put her thoughts into words. "I don't want you to feel obligated to do this." When Dean's expression closed off, she hurried on. "You never tell me much about your life, but I can tell you've grown up like a rolling stone, and rolling stones don't gather moss." She looked around the apartment. "This is you gathering moss."

"You don't want me to stay." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

" _No_!" She glared at him for even suggesting that. "I  _want_  you to stay! But that's why I can't be selfish! I'd prefer for you to come and go and love Dorian without any reservations, than for you to completely change your lifestyle and later resent him for tying you down!"

"Resent him?" Dean's voice was calm but his eyes were a storm as he began to stalk towards her.

Chloe's eyes widened as she backed into a wall.

" _Resent_  him?" Dean slammed his hands against the wall on either side of her head, pinning her against it without even touching her. His hazel eyes narrowed on her greens as he lowered his gaze to pierce hers. "What type of man do you think I am that I would resent my own son?"

"The type of man who's never stayed in one place once, who knows the freedom of the open road, who has never had a responsibility in his life." She glared up at him. This wasn't just about him, it was about their son, and if it had to do with Dorian she'd fight tooth and nail. "You're the type of guy who regularly picks up girls in bars, Dean.  _I_  was one of those girls! You don't have to tell me anything for me to know that your life is constantly on the move, that you've never settled down in one place, and that whatever it is that you and your father do for a living - it's basically your lives." She took in a deep breath. "You don't know how much I appreciate that you'd even consider giving up your life to spend more time with Dorian, but I've seen parents like that. My  _mother_  was like that." She couldn't even believe what she was saying. "She couldn't take being burdened down by a family, couldn't stand being in the same place all the time, seeing the same people. She left, came back to try again, and then left again, that time for good. Each time she left she took a piece of my self-love and self-worth. I don't want that. Not for Dorian. Or you. Or me." She couldn't stop the thickness in her voice as it broke for a second. "So I'd prefer it if you didn't stay here, and yet Dorian knew how important he was to you because of how often you visited - than for you to force yourself to stay here and one day break Dorian's heart like my mother broke mine. I don't ever want you to resent Dorian for holding you back from the life you felt you should have, like my mother resented me." Only then, vocalizing it all, did Chloe understand the root of her insecurity. Tears of embarrassment blossomed in her face as she glanced away.

Dean stared down at her in silence before he sighed and reached out, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him. "I'm not your drunkard of a father, and I'm definitely not your mother." When she opened her mouth he shook his head. "Let me get this out because I don't do this crap usually and I'll never say it again after today." When she closed her mouth to listen, he continued. "You're right. There's never been an ounce of stability in my life. My mother was murdered when I was four years old and my father took me and my 6 month old brother on a life-long mission to try and find her killer. We moved constantly. We never had a home. We never had a family. We never had anything normal that families should have." He paused. "It was harder on my brother than me. He left us a couple of months ago to go to Stanford. He got a full scholarship to study law, and my father's first reaction upon finding out was to tell him that if he went he could consider himself disowned."

Chloe's eyes widened in horror.

"You're right about me. I'm a rolling stone. I've never settled down in one place before. I'm the guy who picks up girls regularly in bars." He leaned in closer. "I picked  _you_  up in a bar."

She gulped, unable to look away from his hazels.

"And even though it wasn't planned, you gave me something I've never thought I'd ever have - my own family." His voice was controlled, his expression blank. "I didn't plan for that kid. I probably never would've wanted to have one if there was a choice. But things happened as they did and that kid is mine and  _I love him_."

Chloe's words caught in her throat. That was the first time she'd heard Dean say those words, and she wanted to cry.

"You won't understand when I say that the best thing I could do for either of you is walk away and never come back." Something shifted in Dean's expression. "But I can't do that. I don't want to do that." His nails dug into the wall. "I want that kid to have everything I never did - a mother, a father, a  _family_. Stability. I don't  _want_  him to know what it's like to never settle down, to not have a house he can call his own, security. I don't want him growing up to be the rolling stone who has no one and regularly picks up girls in bars just so that he's not completely alone for a couple of hours."

By now Chloe  _was_  crying. And she felt guilty as hell.

"So I'm going to ask you again: what do you think about the apartment?"

And yet he was asking her much more than that. He was asking her to let him stay. To let him be a full member of her small family. He was asking her to trust him to be a father and not walk out. He was asking her so much.

Taking in a deep breath, Chloe wiped at her eyes and cleared her throat. "You can't rent this apartment."

Dean's face fell for a second before his walls were up and he pushed away from the wall, turning his back on her. "I understand."

"Not only is it too expensive for the neighborhood, but there's a duplex for rent that's not only cheaper, but it's closer to my house and has a fenced in back yard." Chloe cleared her throat. "Dorian's going to need that space once he starts running around." She paused. "I also want to get him a dog once he's a little older and—." She cried out in surprise as Dean drew her into a tight hug. She stood there in shock, stiff, before she smiled as wrapped her arms around him, resting her cheek against his heartbeat. "Plus, this place smells like mold."

Dean chuckled into her hair. "It does."

He didn't let go. Neither did she.

* * *

"I can't believe you stole this from my house," Chloe snickered as she picked up the frame which featured a picture of her in her high school graduation gown, holding her certificate, and leaning into Dean, who had one arm around her, and the other around Dorian, keeping him up. It'd been some months since Dean had moved into the duplex, and Chloe found herself spending more time with him than she did at her own house. She wanted to say it was because Dorian deserved to spend as much time with Dean, but she'd be lying if she didn't say she liked spending time with Dean as well.

"What?" Dean didn't even look up from the newspaper. "You can print another one."

Rolling her eyes at him, Chloe moved down the mantel at the picture of her and Dorian at Crater Lake, and the picture of her and Dorian at Lana's going away party, and the picture of her and Dorian laughing as Lex and Clark bickered over who should accompany Lois to some function (neither wanted to do it). There was a picture of Chloe and Dorian laying on the picnic blanket, the sunset behind them, and another picture of Chloe and Dorian waving to the photographer. Chloe liked those pictures. But she loved the others. Interwoven with the pictures of her and Dorian were pictures of Dean pushing Dorian on the baby swing set they'd installed in the backyard - Dean with Dorian straddled on his shoulders, both wearing matching smiles - Dean reading a story to Dorian who didn't seem to be listening to the story at all and instead watched his father in awe - and Dean pointing mischievously to Dorian's shirt, which read: I Like Big Boobs And I Cannot Lie. That last one always made Chloe snicker.

She sent a look over her shoulder at Dean, who flipped the page in the newspaper.

Her gaze returned to the pictures she didn't allow herself to look at when he was paying attention.

In those pictures she and Dean were covered in mud from her having slipped and his having tried (unsuccessfully) to stop her descent - or where Dean had her thrown over her his shoulder and Lois was cackling with her head thrown back while Chloe pouted - or where Dean and Chloe were high-fiving each other after he finally beat Clark at their favorite video game - or where Chloe was crying because Clark had just gotten on his plane to go to college, and Dean was hugging her tightly, his chin resting on the top of her head.

And then there were the pictures that Chloe both loved and feared.

In one Dorian was dressed up as Elvis (Dean insisted the kid not be a monster of any kind) and both Dean and Chloe were holding his hands, ready to take Dorian out for his first Halloween Trick or Treat. In another Chloe smiled softly as she gazed at both men in her life, who were asleep on the couch (Dorian on his father's lap), with their mouths open and clearing snoring. In another Dean and Chloe toured Clark's campus, Dorian straddling his father's shoulders, and Dean's hand gripping Chloe's because the crowds were ridiculous (Lois, who'd gone as their tour guide, had snapped that picture). In another Dean was carrying a sleeping Chloe away in his arms while Dorian (in Lucy's lap) pointed to them. And in yet another, one that made Chloe both want to cry and laugh, they were in they were in Lex's private jet, coming back from Lex's party, and Dean, Chloe and Dorian were all asleep. Chloe's head leaned against Dean's shoulder, his own head rested against theirs, and Dorian slept against his father's chest, while grabbing onto his mother's shirt tightly.

Clearing her throat, she looked towards the clock. "Can Dorian spend the night with you?"

"Of course," Dean declared. "I can take the couch if you want to sleep over as well. It's kind of late anyway for you to be driving."

She pulled a strand behind her ear. "I have someone coming over in a bit so I have to go."

There was a pause. "Who's coming over?"

"One of my classmates from MetU," Chloe responded with a shrug. "He's working this evening so he can't make it over any earlier." At the silence that fell she turned towards Dean, surprised to find him watching her oddly. "If it's a problem I can reschedule."

"No, I already said Dor can stay with me." Dean gripped the newspaper tightly. "So, who's the classmate? Do I know him?"

"I don't think—," her eyes widened. "Yeah! You met him on Halloween. Remember? We went to his parents' house and he was the one giving out treats. He was the, uh, ghoul, I think."

Dean sneered. "Don't remember him."

She hadn't thought he would.

"So, you interested in him or something?"

She nearly choked at the question. "In  _Myles_?"

"Myles," Dean scoffed to himself. "What sort of name is  _Myles_?"

Chloe eyed him curiously. "For someone who doesn't remember Myles, you sure don't seem to like him."

"I couldn't care less about  _Miley_ ," Dean sneered as he stood from his chair, clearly agitated. "So, is this some sort of date?" He moved to fix the frame of a photo that wasn't crooked. "Am I going to be dealing with a step-daddy wannabe?"

She blinked, not exactly sure where this question was coming from. "I doubt so. Myles is dating Bradley."

Dean looked up. "Bradley - as in unisex - or as in a dude?"

"As in a 'dude'," she repeated.

"Oh." Dean's face cleared up immediately. "I see." He went back to his chair and grinned. "Just invite him over here."

"You wouldn't mind?" She asked in surprise.

"Nah, I'll probably be sleeping anyway." He grinned. "Just wake me up when you're done and I'll go to the couch."

"Are you sure?" She asked, completely shocked.

"Yeah." Dean's grin just grew.

Chloe texted Myles and once he was off work she had some snacks and such ready for him so they could study together for their joint presentation. When Dean wasn't tending to Dorian he was watching something on his computer with head phones on, and didn't bother at all. He fell asleep some time after, and snored slightly, but that was utterly cute instead of distracting. As she walked Myles to the door, he leaned over and whispered in her ear. "You have  _such_  a hot boyfriend."

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend," she hurriedly corrected, blush appearing on her face.

Myles smirked at her. "Who are you trying to fool?" And with that he was gone.

Chloe watched him until he got into his car, and then closed the door and turned to look at Dean, a small smile on her face.

The phone rang and she hurriedly answered it so it wouldn't wake Dean or Dorian from their slumbers. "Dean Winchester's phone. How many I help?"

There was a pause, and then a gruff voice spoke. "Who the hell is this? Is this one of his floozies?"

She narrowed her eyes at the accusation. "No. I'm assuming you're John, his father."

There was another pause. "How did you know that?"

"Because you're an asshole," she snapped. "Dean and Dorian are sleeping now so call back tomorrow."

"Who the hell is Dorian?" John wanted to know. "Don't tell me my boy's gone and become a queer."

Chloe blanched. Not only was John Winchester more of an asshole than she'd guessed, but he didn't know anything about Dorian. That hurt, that seriously—.

Dean yanked the phone from her - when had he awoken? "Hello?" His face went cloudy immediately. "Father." He listened for a couple of minutes before he shook his head. "Sir, I respectfully ask that you never call her that again. She's not like that. She—," he sent her a little look before glancing away. "She's the mother of your grandson and deserves your respect." There was a stretch of silence from Dean's part before he shook his head. "No sir, I won't." He licked his lips. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I've already told you my answer." And with that he hung up.

Chloe stared at him in worry. "What happened?"

"Remember how I told you that my mother was murdered when I was four years old and my father has spent our whole lives trying to find the murderer?" Dean asked softly, tiredly, and when she nodded he continued. "Do you also remember the part where he disowned Sammy because he wanted to have his own life and go to college instead of staying and hunting?"

"Oh god." She got what he hadn't said, and in seconds wrapped Dean in a tight embrace. "I'm so sorry."

He encircled her in his arms and rested his chin on the top of her head. "It's okay."

"No it's not," she insisted, voice becoming hoarse with emotion. "But you don't need him, okay? You have family here. You have me and Dorian.  _We're_  your family now."

Dean tightened his grip around her. "I know."

She smiled softly against his chest.

"I want you to meet someone," he whispered into her hair. "His name is Bobby. If anyone raised my brother and myself it was him." He cleared his throat. "He's known about Dor since I have and, well, I want him to meet the both of you."

"I'd like that," Chloe whispered back. "A lot."

She felt Dean's smile against her hair, and cuddled in against him tighter.


	4. Chapter 4

Bobby Singer was gruff and no-nonsense, but Chloe took to him immediately, especially when the man saw Dorian and his eyes got suspiciously watery. He'd, of course, blamed it on the pollen in the air but she'd known better. In his deepest of hearts Bobby was a softie, and she was going to love him. He was staying over at Dean's during his visit, and since Chloe spent most of her time there with Dorian she quickly got to get a reading on the guy. He was a bit paranoid, telling Dean off for not "protecting" the house better than he already had, and had declared that he'd have to do something about it because "yer woman and yer kid are here, you should be ashamed for not going the extra mile - you idgit".

Dean never corrected Bobby in his assumption that Chloe was "his woman" and Chloe didn't know how to take that. She didn't want to get her hopes up. She should just be happy that she had such a great relationship with the father of her son. She shouldn't try and hope - push - for anything more than what they had.

Rumsfeld, Bobby's Rottweiler, had scared her for all of two seconds, and then she'd realized that like his master, Rumsfeld was a big softie. He'd taken to sleeping by the front door and followed Chloe around the house, wagging his tail happily every time she rubbed his ears or slipped him some sort of snack when the guys weren't looking. He was going to gain some pounds before he left!

 _He definitely convinces me that we need to get a dog for Dor - but we should probably start off with a puppy_.

Using her key to unlock the front door, Chloe entered the house and was about to call out when the sounds of talking from the kitchen caught her attention.

"It really means a lot that you'll be here for his first birthday, Bobby."

She closed the door softly.

"I still can't wrap my head around you being all civilian," Bobby declared. "It just seems so foreign, and yet you also seem right at home."

Dean scoffed. "I'm bluffing my way through it all, Bobby. I don't know what I'm doing. It's not like dad was any sort of father for me." There was a pause. "What if I fuck this up?"

There was a sigh. "You're not going to, boy. You raised your brother into a good man."

"A good man who wants nothing to do with me!" Dean's voice rose in a surprising sign of vulnerability. "I can't - not my son - what if he -?"

"Sammy doesn't want anything to do with hunting, boy, it has nothing to do with not wanting to do with  _you_. That boy loves you. You were his only constant in his whole life. From the time you were seven John was leaving you two alone for weeks and you'd have to take care of Sam. You raised him well. You protected him. You have nothing to be ashamed of." There was a huff. "If there's anyone who should feel badly it's John."

Chloe's heart ached. Dear god. Dean had never spoken much about his childhood, had merely said it wasn't like most kids. She hadn't known the sort of abandonment he'd gone through - or of all the things he'd had to do from the time he was a kid. He'd raised his brother while he himself was growing up.

"Dad did what he felt was right. After mom's death he was hurting, he needed—."

"You boys needed a father. Instead, when your ma was killed you lost your pa at the same time."

There was silence.

Bobby sighed. "Do you plan on becoming a civilian?"

She tilted her head to the side, confused. Civilian? Was Dean in some sort of military force or something?

"Maybe." Dean's voice was soft. "Hunting is all I've known, Bobby. It's all I've ever been good at." He paused. "But what if something follows me home?"

Hunting? Was he in some sort of specialized area of the military? Like a Navy Seals or something? Someone who the government sent out to hunt monsters like terrorists?

"What if I get Chloe and our baby hurt or killed because of the life?" Dean was pacing, she could hear his footsteps on the floor. "If something happened to them because of me - damn it Bobby - I couldn't handle it. I'd become my father."

Bobby sighed again. "If Karen were alive I would never be in this line of work."

There was a pause. "You think I should do it? You approve?"

"No one needs to  _approve_ , you idgit. This is your life. It's  _yer woman and child_  we're talking about." Bobby's southern accent grew deeper with gruff emotion. "You do what's right by them."

"Thank you."

"What am I here for but to knock some sense into your thick skull?" There was a snort. "Now, are you going to make an honest woman of her and give that child your name?"

"We're already drafting up papers so that he can have my name," Dean responded slowly. "To be honest, Bobby, I'm lucky she's allowed me this completely into her life. I'm not pushing anything, not when I don't have to. We've got a good thing going on right now. We're friends. I've never been friends with a woman before. I like it. I think we're in a good place. We're family. What more do I really need - could ask for?"

"Is there someone else?"

"You mean Clark? Nah. I thought so at first too, but his disapproval was because I wasn't baby-proofing anything. Now we're - I wouldn't say friends - but I like the kid."

"I meant  _you._ "

"Are you  _serious_?" Dean scoffed. "No. I'm not here for booty calls. I'm here for my family. My child and his mother are all I have time for."

Chloe smiled softly, feeling bittersweet as she eased the door open and slipped back outside. Dean had chosen them, he obviously cared about them, not just Dorian but her as well. He saw her as a friend and as family, and damn it, it made her want to cry. She'd never expected this much from the one night stand she'd had while on the run, but Dean had proven to be so much more than she could've ever hoped for.

His friendship, his loyalty and presence, were enough.

He was right. They were friends, family, and it was  _great_. There was no way that she'd ruin it by letting her crush on him develop any further.

* * *

"I don't know who snores more, him or the dog," Dean snorted, voice low and amused as they watched Bobby asleep on the lazy boy, head back and mouth open. By his feet, Rumsfeld joined in with his master's snores.

On the couch Chloe and Dean had just finished watching a movie. Bobby had fallen asleep halfway through it and had been serenading them ever since. It'd been quite the experience.

A laugh escaped Chloe's lips as she slapped Dean's shoulder. "Leave him be. He's tired."

"He sounds like a  _bear_ ," Dean snickered.

"You're mean," she informed him with a large smile on her face.

Bobby chose that moment to let out his loudest snore yet.

Chloe and Dean shared a look before they burst out laughing, each having to cover their mouths to keep from making too much noise and waking the man up.

Dorian lay on a warm, thick blanket on the floor and patted his stuffed bear as he eyed them curiously.

Chloe smiled up at Dean, who smiled down at her.

Suddenly realizing how close their faces were, and how close to that precipice she was, Chloe pulled away and cleared her throat. "Well, it's getting late and Dorian and I should be going back home."

"I love having Bobby here," Dean whispered. "But I miss you guys staying over."

She smiled at him. "Yes, well, you'll soon have Dorian over again, don't worry." She grabbed her bag and pulled out her keys before she turned to their son. "Ready to go my handsome little prince?"

Dorian held his hands out to her and smiled.

Dean was the one to pick him up though, a strange expression on his face as he held his son to his heart. "Why don't you just stay over? You can take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

She couldn't handle that right now, not since things had gotten one-sidedly awkward. "Don't be ridiculous, you have to go over to the garage tomorrow morning. We'll be  _fine_." She then paused when she saw the reluctance plainly painted on his face. "Okay, how about this? You keep Dorian over tonight. I'll come for him in the morning before you leave."

Dean nodded, gaze not meeting hers. "Sure."

She frowned. He didn't sound too happy. But hadn't that been the whole problem? He wanted his kid to sleep under his roof. She was okay with that.

"I'm thinking of breaking my lease," Dean declared suddenly.

"Wait, why? This is a great neighborhood and it's close to the house." Chloe frowned. "I thought you really liked it here - did I - did you feel pressured into getting this place because of me?"

"What?  _No_!" Dean frowned at her. "I like this place. A lot."

She tilted her head, confused. "Then why do you want to break the lease?"

He cleared his throat and looked away. "It's a little… small."

She didn't think so. The two bedroom duplex was usually more than enough.

"Bobby's going to visit often - I want him to know my son," Dean declared.

She nodded. "As he should. Bobby's lovely."

Dean smiled at that, before he cleared his throat. "I need a bigger place, so he can be here, and so can, uh, Dorian."

"But I'm telling you, you can keep Dorian over tonight. He can even spend tomorrow with Bobby if Bobby doesn't mind taking him to Mrs Kent's around three." Chloe didn't understand what the issue was.

Dean looked annoyed. "It's not enough, okay?"

"Okay, fine. It's your place. You do what you want." She held her hands, submitting to his desire on this subject. "I really need to go though, I have an early class and then I have stuff I need to do so I better be going."

Dean moved with her when she headed towards the door, and was silent as she slipped outside, following after her.

"Ok baby, you be good for your daddy and Grandpa Bobby." She hadn't meant to say that out loud, but she figured that John would never be a good grandfather, and Bobby would be more than perfect for the role. So sue her if what she referred to Bobby as in her mind had just slipped out. "Behave my little prince." She kissed his chubby cheeks and then pulled away and smiled at Dean, a little awkward and not sure  _why_. She could see the displeased agitation on his face, and that only added to the awkwardness. "Well, sleep well Dean." She slugged his shoulder softly - seriously, who was she,  _Lois_? - and then with a smile turned and descended the steps off of the front porch towards her car.

Dean stayed there on the porch, under the light, watching her.

With one last wave she started her car and drove away.

When she glanced back through the rearview mirror, Chloe was surprised to find Dean still on the porch, watching her.

* * *

"Is it me, or does Bobby get all tongue-tied around your mom?" Chloe asked.

Clark looked a little shocked at the question. "Do you think he likes her?"

"She's a beautiful woman."

Clark made a face. He visited Chloe and his mother a lot on the sly, and this time was spending a couple of days so he could be here for the birthday party.

"Do you have a problem with her dating again?" Chloe asked softly, hand on his shoulder.

Clark shook his head. "I know she'll always love dad. It's just weird to think of her dating."

"Nothing will probably happen," Chloe consoled him.

Clark eyed her. "That's a new necklace."

"No, actually, I've had it for a couple of months now." Chloe lifted the necklace in question. "Dean gave it to me."

"Did he now?" Clark grinned as he eyed it. "It could be prettier."

She slugged him. "It's apparently a protective symbol." She made a face. "I didn't realize he was superstitious until he gave this to me."

"He obviously knows you well enough if he gave you something like that." Clark laughed when she slugged him harder. "I'm just  _saying_."

She rolled her eyes at him. "It's hard to think of him as superstitious, but I shouldn't be surprised. I mean, the necklace Dor always wears is a protective symbol Dean's little brother gave him one christmas, so it has to be a family thing."

"A family thing." Clark smiled.

She nodded and let the pendant fall to her heart once more. "Can you do me a favor?"

"You know I'm always here to help," Clark reminded.

She smiled. "I need to take a trip somewhere and it'd be best if I could do this without anyone finding out."

"Ah, the Kent Express rides again." Clark grinned. "Sure. Where do you want to go?"

She looked up at him. "Stanford, California."

* * *

She sat in the library, going over a book. Sam Winchester's roommate had told her that he was going to grab something to eat before heading to the library, as always, to study late into the night. Considering that Dorian was spending another night at Dean's house (she still didn't get why Dean kept getting so agitated) she had the evening to herself. She got to tour the campus that she might've gone to once upon a different lifetime, and she wondered what it would've been like, juggling being a mother and a student here.

In the end, she'd ended up in the library, and grew so engrossed in a book that she was reading she nearly forgot her mission. With a jolt she sat up in her seat and glanced around to see if anyone new had arrived since she'd last looked, and realized that there were quite a few others around studying intensely. She hadn't actually seen a picture of Sam Winchester, but once her gaze fell upon a giant of a guy hunched over a table she somehow knew.

Standing up and hoping she wasn't wrong and this was some stranger, Chloe moved towards the table in time for him to look up and his blue/greens to catch sight of her approaching, widening. She cleared her throat and gave him a smile as she reached his table. "Are you Sam Winchester?"

He blinked. "Uh, yeah."

"I'm Chloe." She sat down across from him. "You don't know me, but I know your brother."

Immediately his face closed off.

She pushed on despite that. "In fact, I'm here because I want to invite you to our son's birthday party."

Sam narrowed his eyes. " _Chirsto_."

Had he just cursed at her? She blinked, confused, and hurriedly carried on. "Dean doesn't know that I'm here talking to you, but I know that you mean a lot to him and—."

"How do I know that you're telling the truth?" Sam wanted to know. "My brother isn't a family man. I don't see him settling down with a wife and child and doing the whole civilian thing."

"I'm not his wife. We're only friends." She cleared her throat, seriously nervous. "It was a one night stand."

"Now  _that_  sounds like my brother."

She didn't let his attitude dissuade her as she moved to sit next to him (instead of opposite him) and pulled out her phone, pulling up pictures of Dean and Dorian. "That's our son, his name is Dorian."

Sam leaned into her, eyes wide as he reached over to flick through the pictures, his eyes wider and wider with each flick. When he got to a video file, Chloe yanked out her earphones and offered him a plug before she pressed play so that he could watch (and hear) Dean laughing as he tossed a delighted Dorian up in the air only to easily catch him. More and more videos were played, showing different scenes of Dean and Dorian and Chloe.

Finally, in the middle of it, Dean called, his picture flashing on the screen. It was on silent, but still she excused herself and hurried out of the library before answering. "Hey."

"Hey." Dean sounded odd. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm, uh, busy." She licked her lips. "Is Dorian okay?"

"Yeah, it's just that we came over to surprise you with dinner but you weren't home and your father doesn't know where you are." Dean cleared his throat. "You with Clark?"

"I was," she conceded, not wanting to tell him anything just in case Sam didn't come. "I'm not anymore."

He let out a little laugh. "You're being really mysterious."

Damn it. He was right. She  _was_. If she didn't do something he'd get suspicious! "I, uh, I'm with someone." She looked up to see Sam leaving the library as well.

"Myles or Bradley?"

"No. Uh. Neither." She brought her finger to her lips to ask Sam not to speak as she tried to bluff her way out of this situation. "Dean, I really can't talk right now."

There was a pause. "You're on a  _date_."

"I wouldn't say a  _date_ , more like an informal one on one." She was drowning here  _so badly_. "Look, I'll talk to you later, okay?" With that she hung up and turned to Sam. "I don't want him to know in case you don't come. He acts like he's made of stone, but when it comes to his family…"

Sam eyed her thoughtfully. "So you and my brother have a baby together."

"Dorian," she reminded him.

"Dean has a fake ID with that name."

"He  _had_  one," she corrected. "He got rid of it after he and I, uh, you know,  _conceived_." Oh god, she was floundering so horribly with both brothers right now. Best if she just did what she came for and left before Sam thought his brother had "conceived" with a total idiot. She reached into her pocket and held out an envelope to him. "You don't have to give me an answer now, please don't feel pressured, but it would really mean a lot to the both of us if you're there at Dorian's first birthday party. Bobby's going to be there, and I know he means a lot to Dean, but he's not his baby brother."

Sam stared at her before he took the envelope and opened it, finding an airplane ticket. "I can't accept this."

"You can and you will." Hadn't she just said something about not feeling pressured? Damn it! "Bobby's staying with Dean, but you can stay with me. I've got more than enough space at my house, and I'd love it if you could meet your nephew." She smiled. "And if you could tell me some embarrassing stories about Dean growing up I'd be delighted."

The corner of Sam's lips tilted in a small smile.

"I left a piece of paper with my phone number and house address there as well."

"I could be a psycho." He frowned at her. "You shouldn't just give me—."

" _Please come to your nephew's birthday party_." She bowed. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Please don't bow," Sam squeaked.

She straightened, flushing in embarrassment. "I need to go catch my ride. But, uh, if you have any questions just call me, okay? And please give it some thought."

He looked at her in silence before he nodded.

With a smile she left before she could make a bigger idiot of herself.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Are you sure that my brother won't punch me** _ **?** _**We didn't exactly part on good terms.** _

Chloe smiled softly as she texted back:  _ **Your father was the one who disowned you, Sam, not Dean.**_

"Whatcha up to?" Dean wanted to know from behind her.

She jumped, eyes wide, and turned around, hiding her phone behind her back. "Nothing."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't look like 'nothing'."

"Texting," she quickly supplied. "Is everything ready? I think everything's ready. People are arriving." She slipped her phone into her pocket and flashed Dean a shaky smile as she moved passed him, only to stop when he grabbed her arm. "Yeah?"

Dean licked his lips. "Is everything alright? You've been - weird - these last couple of days."

"I'm fine." She smiled at him and tried not to flinch when the sound of a DING in her pocket proved that Sam had written back.

Dean's eyes narrowed slightly. "Who do you keep texting? Is it… is it the guy you went out on a date with the other night?"

"It wasn't a  _date_." She cleared her throat. "And yeah. It's him."

Dean dropped his grip on her arm. "Oh." He looked away and cleared his throat. "Well, Romeo is going to have to do without you for a couple of hours because  _our son_  is having his first birthday and this is a family event. We can't have you missing the Happy Birthday song because you're texting this guy."

She shook her head. "I won't."

"You don't know that," he countered.

"He's, uh, coming here." Chloe didn't miss the sharp way that Dean jerked to look in her direction. "He won't get in the way, I promise." She paused and smiled softly. "You'll like him."

"Sure I will." A muscle jumped in his cheek. "Be sure to let me know when Prince Charming arrives." He cleared his throat. "In the meantime, let's go celebrate  _our son's_  first birthday with the others."

Chloe smiled up at him. "Let's."

* * *

"Where's Chloe?" Lois wanted to know as she held up the birthday boy. They'd all sung and blown out the candles on Dorian's ridiculously gigantic cake, and now everyone was mingling with each other.

"She went to let her boyfriend in." Dean couldn't keep the harsh tone from his voice. Sure, Chloe had every right to have a boyfriend, and it was none of Dean's business, but he couldn't help but dislike this guy without even knowing him. He sure as hell didn't want him here at his kid's birthday either. Why did she have to invite him? And why the hell did she think that he'd actually like the asshole?

"Boyfriend?" Lois's voice went dark. "She has a  _boyfriend_?"

"Yeah." Dean stabbed his fork into his piece of cake, somewhat happy to realize that he wasn't the only one who didn't approve of this new development. "I'm about to meet him since she invited him to our kid's birthday party."

A muscle jumped in Lois' cheek. "Wait until I get that girl in my grip, I'm going to—."

Dean didn't hear what Lois would've done, because Dean noted movement coming from the house and he looked up, quite ready to hate the fuck out of this guy and find (and point out) to Chloe all the reasons why a relationship with him wouldn't work. Who tried to pick up a young mother who was in a stable and established… uh… family… anyway?

And yet all of Dean's dark thoughts immediately evaporated when Chloe emerged from the house, a smile on her face, and behind her… emerged his baby brother. " _Sammy_?"

"You know him?" Lois asked, shocked.

"That's my brother." Dean's eyes were wide in utter shock. "What's he doing here?"

"She's dating your  _brother_?" Lois blinked.

He shot her a look before he pushed forwards through the crowd, heading towards them in a near daze. What was Sammy doing here? How did he know about this place? Had Bobby called him? Why had he come though? He hadn't spoken to Dean since he'd left for school!

Sam noticed him and straightened immediately. "Hi Dean."

"Sammy." Dean looked up at him in utter shock. "You're here."

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "I'm here."

Dean cleared his throat and turned to Chloe. "Chlo, this is my kid brother, Sam."

Chloe and Sam shared looks before Sam smiled. "We already met, Dean." He cleared his throat. "Why do you think I'm here?"

And then it clicked. Chloe's weirdness. Her texting. Her terrible attempts at being secretive. Her "it's not a  _date_ ". Damn it. There'd never been a dude trying to play step-daddy! She'd been going behind his back and talking to his brother and — and Sammy was here. He was  _here_.

"I'm going to go and bring Dorian over so he can meet his Uncle Sam," Chloe announced before conveniently disappearing into the crowd.

Dean just looked up at Sam. "Have you gotten taller? You're a freaking mountain."

Sam chuckled. "If I ever had any doubt whether you were really you…"

Dean grinned. "There's only one me, bro."

" _Thank god_ ," Sam snickered. "I don't think the world would be able to handle two of you."

"Fuck you man," Dean laughed. "I'm precious."

They shared a genuine laugh at that.

Sam cleared his throat. "So, Chloe's really nice."

Dean nodded as a small smile touched his lips. "I lucked out with her, you have no clue how much."

Sam eyed him curiously. "She said you two aren't actually together, you're just friends raising your kid together."

Dean paused, not exactly sure why that sounded so… off… to him. "We're not friends, Sammy. She and Dorian are family."

"Of course," Sam was quick to agree. "How did dad take the news?"

"I've been disowned," Dean muttered.

Sam's eyes widened. "I didn't think he'd take it that bad."

"He didn't," Dean assured him. "What he took badly was my refusing to leave them and go to his hunts like he wanted me to."

Sam watched him carefully.

"Sorry to interrupt…" Chloe returned, Dorian in her arms. "But I have someone I want you to meet."

Sam's eyes widened and he grinned. "Hey birthday boy! I got you a gift!"

Chloe grinned up at Sam. "Wanna hold him?"

Sam's eyes turned to her. "Can I?"

She smiled brighter. "Of course."

Sam eased Dorian into his arms and stared down at his nephew's face. "God, he's beautiful."

"That's my handsome boy," Chloe gushed, her hand on Sam's arm.

Dean looked between them and suddenly became very uncomfortable. It took only one step to stand next to Chloe, an arm finding its way around her shoulders in a casual gesture. "Well, obviously, he looks just like me."

Chloe slapped his abs. "You're so full of it."

Sam snickered.

Dean looked at the three most important people in his life, and smiled.

* * *

"So, he's hot," Lois declared as she, and a few intimidate others, stayed behind after the party. Her gaze was on Sam, who held a can of beer and was talking to Clark. "They're probably discussing what life is like staring down at us little people."

Chloe nudged her cousin with a laugh. "Behave."

"When do I ever?" Lois wanted to know as she took a sip of her own beer. "Is he single?"

Chloe raised an eyebrow. "You could always ask."

"Too much effort." Lois made a face before she waved when she caught Clark looking in their direction. "Plus… believe it or not… things seem to be URST-y between me and Smallville. You know, despite his penchant for plaid, he's actually  _seriously_  hot."

Clark blushed darkly.

He'd probably heard that.

Chloe eyed her cousin. "Please don't rape him in some drunken stupor. Go easy on him. At least the first time. For me."

" _For you_ ," Lois agreed with a toast of her can of beer. Her gaze shifted towards where Dean was laughing at something Lex was saying. "You know, I nearly killed you when Dean said you were bringing your boyfriend."

Chloe's gaze shifted towards the father of her son. "It would've been none of your business if I really  _had_  brought a boyfriend."

"When has that stopped me before?" Lois wanted to know. "You've got a great man there, Cuz. And as Godmother I have a say in this. He loves Dorian."

"I know that," Chloe mumbled. "I've never doubted that."

"Then why haven't you  _done_  something?" Lois wanted to know. "He's spent this whole night either keeping an eye on either you or Dorian, or being  _with_  you and Dorian. He obviously cares about the two of you a lot."

"Of course he does, we're family," Chloe declared, uncomfortable and wanting to change the subject. "Can you be a great cousin and drop this?"

Lois opened her mouth, and then she sighed and nodded. "So, have you heard from Lana lately?"

And with that, Chloe happily changed subject.

* * *

Dean still couldn't believe that Sammy was here. The afterparty had ended and everyone heading home. A part of him was happy because it meant he had his duplex back to himself, but the other was reluctant to see Chloe and Dorian leave. He'd noticed it early on when Bobby had first arrived. Dean was used to coaxing Chloe into spending the night in the spare bedroom with Dorian where Dean knew they'd both be safe and sound - not just from the supernatural, but from metahumans, or plain old human baddies. He'd tricked out the duplex as best as he could to ensure their safety - had done some work to her car, and had given Chloe her own protective charm. She was hardly ever without him anyway, so he'd felt quite pleased with it all. But now she spent all her nights at her own house, and while she let Dorian stay over with Dean and Bobby, Dean couldn't sleep because she was in that damned house with her unreliable father.

Sure, Gabe had been doing much better, but he relapsed sometimes. Not only that, but Dean couldn't see Gabe being able to protect himself from any sort of attack, much less his daughter. Instead, Dean could easily imagine Chloe getting hurt trying to protect her father. He'd had nightmares of that, actually. He'd seen evil crap while growing up, and his memories fueled his nightmares as most nights he tossed and turned, thinking about how easy prey she'd be for any monster out there.

He wanted to tell Chloe, wanted to tell her everything, but he was terrified that she wouldn't believe him, that she'd think he was insane and ask him to leave. One thing was finding out about metahumans, they were actually scientifically possible, but monsters? He couldn't take the risk. He couldn't. So instead he'd protect her from the shadows as best as he could.

_It'll be enough, it has to be._

His gaze searched the crowd for her. She was in a group with Bobby, her father, and Sam. The older men talked amongst themselves while she held Dorian in her arms and laughed at something Sam said as he reached out and softly brushed his nephew's hair.

Chloe paused when Sam's outstretched hand pushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face and behind her ear.

Dean narrowed his eyes. That, was that something a brother-in-law usually did? He wasn't used to family interaction, and this was probably all innocent, but still he found himself moving towards them. "Sammy, ready to sleep on the couch?"

Sam and Chloe shared a look before she turned to him. "I offered him one of the guest rooms at my house."

Oh, she had, had she? Why? His brother could sleep happily on Dean's couch, it wasn't like he hadn't grown up sleeping in more uncomfortable places.

"It's okay—," Sam began.

"Nonsense, you are too long for the couch!" Chloe wasn't having any of it. "You're coming home with me, no ifs ands or buts."

Sam hesitated before he nodded. "Ok."

What the hell?

Chloe smiled up at him before she turned to Dean. "See you tomorrow Dean."

Dean fought his frown as he reached over and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Night Chlo." He then kissed Dorian's forehead.

Her eyes widened and she stared at him in shock for a couple of seconds before she turned to Sam, overly enthusiastic. "Let's go. You're driving in the car with me."

Sam smiled down at Chloe, waved to Dean, and took her bag from her, the two of them walking away with Dorian. Sam leaned in towards Chloe and said something that had her throwing her head back and laughing. Dorian looked up at his uncle with wide eyes and a smile on his face, as if he too had understood the joke. Sam opened the door for them, and together they left.

For the first time that night, Dean wasn't overjoyed that his brother was there in Smallville.

* * *

"You're good for my brother," Sam declared as they had hot cocoa late into the night in her kitchen. "I barely recognized the guy in that duplex, but that was a really good thing." He paused and smiled. "I'm glad I came."

"So am I." Chloe blew at the steam rising form her mug. "I was scared you wouldn't."

"After all you'd shown and told me I had to see it for myself," Sam admitted. "I never thought my brother would leave our dad, that he'd start a life of his own. Even though you two are only friends he's closer to you than he's ever been to any other woman. They've always been sex objects for him, but he honestly cares about you, I can see it in the way that he acts with you, talks to you, and keeps an eye on you." He smiled. "And he  _adores_  his son."

Chloe grinned brightly, overflowing with happiness. Nothing could make this night any better than it'd been. "I lucked out with him. You have no idea how much."

Sam watched her and smiled.

She smiled back at him. "I'm really happy you're here, Sam." She licked her lips, a little nervous. "I know that Dean was overjoyed to have you at the party, he's missed you a lot even if he'll never come out and say it, and it would be really great if you keep in contact." She paused. "Just because your dad disowned you doesn't mean you don't have family." She hoped she wasn't overstepping her boundaries. "You've got a brother and a nephew here who I expect you to visit as frequently as you can." She looked up at him. "And we'll come visit you too, if that's alright."

He stared down at her for a couple of minutes before he smiled. "I'd really like that."

Heart overwhelmed with happiness, Chloe smiled brightly up at him and took a sip of her cocoa.

A knock sounded at the door.

Surprised, Chloe shared a look with Sam before she moved out the kitchen, through the living room towards the front door. She peered out through the peephole and then paused, surprised to see who was on the other side of the door. Unlocking it quickly, she threw open the door. "Dean?"

"Hey." He smiled at her before it dimmed slightly as he gazed behind her. "Sammy."

"Did something happen?" Chloe wanted to know as she stepped out onto the porch.

"No, I, I just really wanted to see our kid." There was something odd in his eyes.

"Sure." Chloe blinked, a little confused, but stepped aside so he could walk in. "Sam and I were just having hot cocoa." She locked the door behind him. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

Dean nodded.

Sam eyed Dean before he turned to Chloe. "I'm going to head in."

"Sleep well!" She called as he moved towards the stairs, before she turned to Dean. "You look a little off. Are you drunk?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "No."

Curious as to what was going on, Chloe motioned with her head for him to follow as she led him up to her room. Once he stepped in and headed towards the crib lit by the nightlight, Chloe entered and closed the door behind her, resting her mug on her bedside table as she sat on her bed and just watched Dean gazing down at his sleeping son.

Dean reached down and softly caressed Dorian's cheek, making sure not to wake him up, before sighing as he moved to the bed and collapsed on it, visibly tired. Chloe shifted so that she was facing him. "You want to tell me why you're  _really_  here now?"

He rested his forearm over his eyes. "I'm an ungrateful dick."

Amused by this turn of events, Chloe chuckled. "How so?"

He sighed, leaving his forearm where it was. "Instead of being happy that you and my brother are getting along so well, I  _really_  don't like it."

Chloe froze, shocked. "Why?"

"I don't know," he groaned. "It's frustrating!" In seconds he'd sat up and was facing her. "You're the mother of  _my_  son and I don't like you going home with someone else, even if it's my own dork of a brother."

Chloe's eyes widened. "I see."

"Do you? Do you  _really_?" He stressed. "Because if you do, please explain it to me. I have no idea why the hell I wanted to punch Sammy when you opened the door and he was there."

Chloe bit down on her bottom lip. "Dean…"

"And I don't like you sleeping here, okay? There! I said it!" He threw his hands in the air. "I don't like the thought of you sleeping under this roof, so far away from me that I can't be there the second something happens. I can't sleep at night. So if you won't let me take the couch then I'm getting a damned bigger place, no matter how much it'll break my budget, because I  _need_  to know that you're there and safe."

She shook, her mouth dry. " _Dean_ …"

"I know it's your life and I have no say in it—."

Chloe didn't try to speak any further. She surged forwards, straddling Dean's lap as she cupped his face and kissed him, shocking the both of them with how forward she was. When Dean's hands stayed pressed against the bed she faltered for a second before she shifted further onto his lap and teased his mouth open. Her heart was racing in fear that she was making a huge mistake, and yet, at the first flick of her tongue she cried out as suddenly she was on her back and Dean on top of her, his mouth working so hard against hers she could barely breathe.

She whimpered, grabbing hold of his shirt and holding him in place as she kissed him back.

Finally Dean pulled away, eyes wide as he stared down at her. "I see."

She let out a nervous little laugh as she stared up at him. "Do you  _really_?"

"Yeah." He nodded, voice hoarse. "You and Dorian are moving in with me first thing tomorrow morning."

" _What_?" Was all she could choke out before his mouth was on hers once more and she lost the ability to  _think_.

Life wasn't just going to fall into place, and they were definitely going to have to work out how this changed things, but as Dean slipped his hand up her thigh, Chloe pulled him closer and whimpered into his mouth, a sound which he swallowed greedily.

They'd work out things. Later. Tonight they'd make up for all the time they'd wasted.

Tomorrow, Dorian would awaken to find both of his parents sleeping happily on the same bed for the first time ever, and while the little baby wouldn't be able to truly understand the monumental shift that had taken place, the sight of his mom and dad would make him smile.

And that was all that mattered.


End file.
